


It's Not Too Late

by mithrel



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Afterlife, Canonical Character Death, Choices, Gen, Ghosts, Post-Season/Series 06, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 11:30:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15706335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mithrel/pseuds/mithrel
Summary: The Black Lion intervenes to save her Paladin again.





	It's Not Too Late

He wakes up in purple darkness, but he can’t place it. Since he hadn’t expected to wake up at all, this is at least something.

There’s something familiar about his surroundings, and he tries to chase the thought down.

_Prove yourself._

He jumps and whirls around, but he’s alone. “Who’s there?!”

_Convince me you’re worth saving._

The voice…isn’t exactly a voice, and it comes from all around him. Finally the clues in his mind begin to make a picture and he realizes where he must be. His bond with the Black Lion had been tenuous, but that’s _her_ voice.

The silence has an expectant quality, and he realizes she’s waiting for an answer. “I’m not,” he says immediately.

There’s the impression of a snort, and agreement. _I am giving you a chance to atone._ He stops, galvanized, memories of his fight with Keith flashing through his mind. Atone? _**If,**_ the voice continues sternly, _you do not hurt my new Paladin._

New Paladin? He’s confused, but slowly the explanation comes to him. They’ve put Shiro in his body. There’s no guarantee he’ll survive, and even if he does, he’ll be too weak for a long time to be the Black Paladin, so Keith’s taking the job over again.

 _Keith…_ “I would _never_ hurt Keith!” he blurts out, but there’s a growl around him and through his bones, and he remembers that he _has_ hurt Keith, would have killed him if not for Keith’s own determination and skill.

He shrinks in on himself, wrapping his arms around his torso, absently noticing that he has two arms again, both flesh. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He falls to his knees, weeping.

The Black Lion ignores his distress, projecting a memory into his mind: “ _Please. People’s lives are at stake. You trusted me once. Trust me again._ ” followed by a question.

“You’re…giving me a chance to make up for what I did? To…watch over Keith?”

Feeling of assent.

“What happens if I say no?”

A mental shrug, and a feeling that the Black Lion doesn’t know where humans go when they die.

He feels a chill. _When they die…_ He _must_ be dead now. The Black Lion somehow brought him here, but he’s not a real person. He wasn’t born, didn’t grow up. He was created in a laboratory from stolen DNA, by an evil witch. If there’s any afterlife for him, it’s not one he wants to contemplate. More likely, he’d simply dissolve.

“I can…help him? Keep him safe?”

Another shrug, this time with a feeling of amusement. He feels his lips quirk up. True, Keith has evidently changed a lot since he left, but “keeping him safe” has always been an uncertain business at best.

But Voltron still has a huge fight ahead of them. Haggar is out there still, and Sendak, and Lotor. If _his_ presence gives them, gives Keith, any edge at all, can he in conscience say no, even if he wants to?

There’s a purr of approval from the Black Lion as he nods, his decision made. “I’ll stay.”


End file.
